Warning: violence, thief, drinking (legal), and SMUT. Because good lord look at him)
Fiorella Aceveda, a twenty-three years old sister to a police captain of a bad part of town. David Aceveda, her brother, was running the Barn; a police station in Farmington district of Los Angeles. He found himself in a lot of trouble after the assault, and with the two hooligans on the loose her brother felt the need to cover his sister a little closer.
“Fiorella, this is Curtis Lemansky, he’s as a favor to me. I know it isn’t ideal, but he’s here to keep you safe. His team, this is the leader, Vic Mackey, Shane Vendrell, and Ronnie Gardocki. These guys will be taking turns, but it’ll mainly be Officer Lemansky. Let me talk to Fiorella alone for a moment?” He asks, seeing the steam rolling from his younger sister’s ears as her face flushed.
“David, I don’t need any kind of protection detail. I’m fine, Mano.” She smiles, patting his tense shoulder with a soft hand.
“Listen, until they’re caught, Lemansky will be here. The whole team will, but mostly Lem. He’s the most relaxed when it comes to rules. No friends, no boyfriends, no clubs—“ She snorts, wandering back to the living room to greet her new best friend. Stepping up to the big blonde, she sticks out a hand.
“I’m Fi. You have to be Lem.” She smiles, praying she was right. He was extremely easy on the eyes and his relaxed stance gave him away. He also looked like the poster child for Ron Jon Surf Shop.
“Yeah, that’s me. Curtis if you like. Or Lemonhead, Lem, hey you, whatever makes this easier.” He chuckles, gripping her hand in his for a second before giving her a gentle nod. “This is Vic, Shane, Ronnie. We’ll take turns but it’ll mainly be me here. They all have families and lives.” He rolls his eyes, the both of them laughing. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. He was cute, tall and blonde, slightly sunburnt shoulders and nose, and playful blue eyes.
“That’s alright.” She smiles, disappearing into the kitchen. David was there, eyes expecting her to say something smart. “I really don’t think this is necessary but—“ she stops him with her raised brows. “I’ll go with it for a few days. If it’ll make you and your wife happy.” She groans, grabbing a beer.
“Okay great, thanks Fio, listen. You have rules to follow, okay? Like the shower thing, you might have to leave the door open or shut off the music. You’ll have a schedule to keep. I brought a few things, they’re in the car.” He heads out the front door with the rest of the team, only leaving Lem to scope out the house. He heads first to check all the windows, locking what isn’t locked. One window’s lock was broken, he grabbed a chuck of wood sitting near bar and stuffed it into the pane to keep the window closed, and shuts all the curtains.
“Boy, thanks. I’ll turn on the kitchen light at three in the afternoon.” She rolls her eyes, letting Lem hear her complaint. Realizing maybe he overdid it, he sheepishly pulls open a few curtains.
“Sorry, I just gotta do this right. I was a bodyguard before I worked with the Strike team.” He smiles, his cheeks flushed, though she wasn’t sure if it was embarrassment or sunburn. Whatever the case, it was absolutely adorable. David joined them in the kitchen, putting up a small whiteboard on the fridge with the times Lem and the others would be there. Of course, Lem had all night shifts, he was ten in the morning until two in the morning, Shane would switch him at one forty-five in the morning. Shane would be there from two in the morning until ten in the morning, when Lem would come back.
“Listen, this is great; but I have a few of my own requests. The bathroom door isn’t shut, but the music plays when I shower. I take hour and a half-long showers, so don’t be concerned. When I go grocery shopping, or go out, I don’t want a big scene, which I’m sure you don’t want either. You’ll be fine when I leave the house, just pretend you’re a friend or something.”
“Right. Any other demands?” Lem digs, giving her a twinkling grin.
“Ya know? Yeah, you keep smiling like that. See if it gets you in trouble.” She nips, pointing a cute little finger at him. Vic groans, rolling his eyes at their little smiling.
“Listen, we’re not here to flirt. We’re here to keep you safe, so let’s not go crazy with demands just yet.” He waves a hand in the air signaling a stop.
“Boy, you sound about as fun as a dead mosquito.” Lem snorts, a hand coming up to cover his face.
“I’m not here for fun. If I was, I’d have arranged a play date. This is cop business, if you have any threats, you know to call-“
“Oh I’ll call. It’s Dick Mackey, right?” Shane coughs, Lem gives another snort.
“Fio, this is a favor of mine. Don’t make me regret it.” David warns, pointing a stern finger at her. With a shrug, she disappears to her room. Lem is quick to follow, standing post at her door, ears alert waiting for her to finish. As she opened the door, she sucked in a breath and grabbed her chest.
“Christ, maybe that’s too close.” She breathes, grabbing his shoulder to steady herself. His hands rests on her elbow for a moment before she heads down the hall back to the group, Lem right behind her.
An hour passes, everyone leaving her and the tall blonde together. “So Lem, tell me about yourself. You from Farmington? You look like a surfer boy.” She ruffles his hair as she walks by, getting ready to make dinner. It was about six and her stomach was yelling at her. Cooking a couple chicken breasts and asparagus, she offers him a plate.
“Oh no, you don’t have to do that.” He smiles as he sits at the table. She sits the plate in front of him as she sits next to him, digging into the asparagus. He shrugs, following suit. After dinner, she drags him to the couch and pops in a movie. Cuddling against his warm arm, he glances down at her for a moment as confused as could be. He barely even knew this girl and she was cuddled against him like she knew him. Mentally, he supposed he knew what she was doing. Her brother told her it would at least be seven days so she was getting comfortable quickly. Plus, if he was honest, he didn’t mind the cuddling. He looks back down to find he looking at him.
“What’s up?” She asks softly, hooking an arm through his and cuddling closer under his arm.
“Not much, what are ya up to down there?” He chuckles, patting her knee.
“Getting comfy, you? Why can’t you just sleep here? That Shane guy doesn’t seem great, and you and I know how Dick Mackey goes down.” She and Lem laugh together, falling into a happy silence. “I’m gonna head to bed, if you need anything let me know.” She nods to him before heading to her room. He stands, following.
“I need to sweep the house really quick. All the windows are locked, let me check your window locks and curtains.” She happily swings her door open for him, letting him go straight for the window. Pulling shut the thin curtains, he does a once over of the room to make sure it was the way it was supposed to be. Vic would be there around midnight for the first night watch, as they didn’t expect much to happen.
Awaking early, around six o’clock, she gets up and finds her way to the coffee pot, making herself a cup of coffee and remembering she was supposed to do some grocery shopping this morning. Met by a half-crabby Shane, eyes slits of sleepiness. Finding her clothes, she gets ready and grabs her keys.
“Where are you going?” He barks, grabbing her keys. With an angry frown, she tries to swipe her keys back.
“To the store, I just need a couple things for breakfast.” She assures, only to find Shane grumbling as he opens the door, escorting her to his car and getting in, driving her to the nearest grocery store.
“Gee, thanks so much.” She rolls her eyes as she heads into the store, Shane by her side. Finding the eggs, almond milk, coffee creamer, and sugar, she heads to the checkout. Stopping in the meat aisle for a package of bacon and sausage links. “I’m sure you’d prefer the sausage.” She snorts as they check out.
“I’m straight, asshole.”
“I’m sure you like asshole.” She pats his shoulder with a sarcastic grin.
By ten she had breakfast cooked and ready when Lem got there, a grin on his cute face as he greeted her with a hug.
“Thank christ you’re here. Stick-in-the-mud was a real treat this morning.” She rolls her eyes as she hands him a plate of food, and handing Shane a plate with one egg and bunch of sausage links on it. She snorts as she fills her own plate, plucking a sausage link for Shane’s. “You don’t mind, right? Asshole.” She grins darkly, laughing as Shane gets fired up. Dropping the plate on the counter, he pats Lem on the shoulder and mumbles something in his ear before disappearing.
“You two don’t get along well, huh?” He asks, stuffing a bite of eggs into his mouth and chomping on it.
“We get along fine!” She cheers with her mouth full, making Lem laugh. “Hey, I wanna do some more shopping. I didn’t want to keep Prince Ass-pian waiting. Think we could go at like one or two? I promise to make dinner. Might even let you choose what we have.” She wiggles her brows, enticing him. The only thing he wanted was to get to know her better. He loved her cute goofiness. They found a comfortable silence as she pulled out a few different supplies from a cupboard and some white clothes from a plastic tub. Laying out heavy duty, stained cardboard, she twists the white clothes into different patterns.
“What are you doing?” He asks, peeking over her shoulder.
“I’m getting ready to tie-dye these. I sell them on Etsy. Here.” She hands him a tee shirt, size extra large, and some rubber bands. She rubber bands one into a smiley face. “They’re so easy. Rubber band it how you want the pattern. So like, there’s stripes, bulls-eye, smile, heart-shaped, you can do almost anything.” She babbles as she mixes her colors, a spoon dyed almost black she used to measure into squeeze bottles and spray bottles alike; each bottle it’s own concoction of colors.
“So like, if I wanted to do that smiley face like you, how do I do that?” He asks, stretching a rubberband between his thumb and first finger, smiling at her.
“Here. So put one here,” her finger hits the shirt, “here” hits again, “and then accordion fold this part.” She draws the smile with his finger, holding his big hand with two of hers to point him in the right direction.
“Cool.” He sets to work, brows furrowed and tongue ever-so-slightly hanging from his mouth as he wrapped the spots where she pointed. “Alright. I think I did it.” He smiles, holding up the rubber banded shirt, confused. “You sure you know what you’re doing?” He asks, trying to see the image. She laughs, placing the shirt on the table and grabbing her basket of color choices.
“Pick a few, like two at least.” She waves to the basket. Lem finds a yellow, a blue, and an orange. “Now, put the color you want on the face and then fill in the background.” She instructs, guiding his hand with hers as he applied the colors. She finished her own project as he finished up with his. She smiled at him, taking in his sweet curiosity as his eyes swept over her for a second before rising to his feet and stretching back. Her eyes caught a glimpse of a sliver of tan skin peeking from under the hem of his tee shirt, her tongue swiping across her bottom lip before jolting to life, finding a sure footing as she whisked away to her room. Lem’s day would be short today, Shane would cover his last part of his shift so Lem could help Vic beat on some doors.
“Hey, Vic asked Shane to cover part of my shift tonight so I can help him at the clubhouse.” He states as he helps her into her car, falling into the passenger side.
“Bobo. I don’t like him. He’s a puto.” She hisses, grabbing her purse as they pull into the grocery store. This was the first time he’d ever heard her Spanish, and it was cute. He found himself chuckling, not even sure what she was saying.
“Listen, puto is pretty harsh girlie. I heard you on the phone yesterday, talking to a friend. I’ll let your friend come over if it’ll make it up to you.” He smiles as he walks by her side through the store.
“Fine, I’ll call Tigre, tell her it’s cool.” His eyes blown wide, mouth half-hung open.
“Wait wait wait-“
“What?” She nips, a hand on her hips.
“Tigre?” He asks, eyes flicking between the cellphone and her face nervously.
“Yeah, why?” He shrugs, waving it off. He’d be able to be civil. Maybe he’d have Ronnie take his shift.
“No reason. Yeah, have your friend come over tomorrow night. I’ll be your bartender and waiter. Get you what you want.” He chuckles, but the look in her eyes doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Que pasa si te quiero.” She hushes, zooming away, cheeks flushing. He picks up his step, rushing her with a low growl and scooping her up, nuzzling her cheek with his nose.
“Pretty girl, don’t run away.” He whispers in her ear. She giggles, pushing her cheek into his nose. He kisses her cheek, finding himself almost reeling in the warmest. They finished the shopping hand in hand, she found him warm and safe.
“So, tell me, what do you know about Tigre?” She asks as he loads her groceries into her car.
“Listen, it’s kind of personal stuff, Chiquita.” He smiles as he gets into the car. She frowns for a second.
“You two—ya know?” She asks, watching Lem shift uncomfortably next to her, eyes looking anywhere but her.
“Uh—it’s personal. Okay? Can we just leave it at that?” He asks, eyes pleading her to let it go. They had, she could tell by the way he shifted and avoided eye contact. It hurt, knowing he slept with her best friend.
“Okay, sorry.” She shuts down. He watches it like slow motion. She avoids contact as she puts away the groceries and shoves things where they don’t belong. He frowned as he heard Shane’s car pull into the drive. He was here early.
“Hey, pretty girl. I’m sorry, okay?” He mutters, grabbing her hand. With a gentle, hurt smile, she pulls him to the sink to rinse the shirt that dyed out.
“Tada!” She cheers, holding it out. “I’ll run it through the dryer when you get here tomorrow.” With that, she whisks away from him. He found himself upset. He really liked her, and because of his past with Tigre he probably wouldn’t get a chance. Though, if he were honest he wouldn’t blame her one bit. It was almost the same scenario.
Shane comes in, pats Lem on the shoulder and feels the tension in the room. The tall blonde heads for the door, when she calls to him. “Lem!” She skips over to hug him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, his around her shoulders.
“I’ll be back around six.” He murmurs into her ear as he pats her shoulder.
“I’ll be here.” She laughs, shutting the door and listening as his bike roars to life.
“So what’s with the tension?” Shane asks.
“What tension?”
“The tension between you two.” He nods towards the door.
“There isn’t any.” She barks. He eggs her on the rest of the night until two in the morning when she finds him sleeping on the couch. Sneaking out, she gets in the car and turns the music on. Heaving a deep, calming breath, she wondered where she’d even go. Shane was too pissy, always picking on her. Backing out of the driveway, she drove herself straight to the Barn. Getting to the door, she asks for Lem.
“Just a minute. I’ll get him.” The dirty blonde woman cop disappeared down a hall to a door. Lem’s head juts out the door, eyes meeting yours. He takes off on a dead sprint, shouting to ‘buzz her through!’. She steps through the door, only to be met by Lem’s body crashing into hers.
“Are you okay? Is Shane okay? Does he know you’re here?” He asks, hands worrying around her face and shoulders.
“He’s sleeping on the couch. Jesus, Lemonhead. I just got the chance to leave the house, I figured you’d be pissed if something happened, so I came here.” She informs.
“You just decided to leave the house? Without protection? Just meander around? Do you understand why we’re staying at your house? You think this is a joke?” He shouts, eyes dark and shoulders tensed.
“No, I just—“
“Just what? Decided to galavant? Do you understand how much danger you put yourself in?” He fires, gripping your shoulders.
“Well, no. I just thought—“
“Thought what? It was fine? Safe? Jesus, at least Tigre knew to stay in the house.” He hisses, hands finding his hair.
“Yeah? I bet you were good at distracting her!” She shouts, shoving him away from her as she turns on her heel. Lem grabs her arm.
“No! You’re not leaving without an escort!” He orders. She grabs his hand, shoving it from her arm.
“No. I’m leaving.” She dares him to say another word. She sees a light on in David’s office and storms up the stairs, straight into his office. “I want the protect detail over!” She fires, slamming the office door shut. David jumps from his desk.
“What? I thought it was going well? Lemansky just came up here a couple hours ago and said it was going great!”
“Well it’s not! I want them out! I hate that redneck and I hate the blonde stupid Vato.” She hisses, teeth bared. Lem stood at the bottom of the stairs, contemplating if he should go up or not. As he starts up the stairs, Shane comes flying into the office half-awake and scared.
“Lem! Lem I lost her!” Lem’s eyes go wide. He found himself playing along.
“What?” He asks. Shane starts to pace the floor.
“I lost her man! I checked the whole house! I checked the grocery store! I checked the fuckin’ gas station! I even called Tigre! The girl you—“
“Yeah, yeah! You lost here. She’s here.” He shuts him up, heading to the clubhouse.
“What?”
“She’s in Aceveda’s office.” He waves a hand up towards the office.
“I want them gone. I’m done. I’ll protect myself if I have too. I’m done David. You tried. Thank you, but I’m okay.” She starts towards the door, but David calls to her.
“You have to at least let me catch these bastards. Baby sister, they made me—do things. Things that if they forced you, I’d kill them. Without a second thought. Okay? Let Lem keep you safe, I’ll pull the others off, but at least let Lem stay. He really likes you. Maybe if, you know, you like him too-“
“No.” She barks. “Fine. He can stay. But the Shane guy has to go. I hate him. He’s such an asshole. Too controlling.” She shoves out of her brother’s office, grabbing her keys from her pocket as she heads for the door.
“Hey!” Lem shouts, jogging to catch up with her. “I’m heading out, I’ll trail you.”
“Lovely.” She huffs, slamming through the door and heading out to her car. A man in a hooded jacket grabs her arms and pulls her away from her, covering her mouth. “Lem!” She shrieks, biting the man’s hand. With grunt, he shoves her away from him, grabbing his hand. “Lem! Lemonhead!” She cries, hearing his feet pound the pavement.
“Jesus christ!” He barks, kicking the man, cuffing him and dragging him into the station. “You’re a special kind of stupid.” He chuckles dryly, arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. He leaves her by the door, his eyes never leaving her quaking frame as he drags the man into the cage, pulling off the ski mask. Grabbing his cell, he calls Aceveda as he grabs her tightly, his cheek pressed to her hair to calm his own frayed nerves. “Come down here. I need you to look at something.” He ruffs into the phone. Dropping the cell into his pocket, he leads her to an empty desk chair at Dutch’s desk. Pulling up another empty chair, he sits down next to her.
“Lem.” She whispers, climbing into his lap, letting his big warm arms wrap around her and hug her tightly to his chest. She could hear his heart beating heavily still.
“It’s okay, pretty girl. It’s okay. You understand now. I’d do anything to keep you safe. We all would. You can’t go galavanting every time you have the chance.” He coos into her ear as he gently smoothes circles into her shoulder. Aceveda comes down the stairs to find a scene before him that made him smile a little. If his sister deserved anyone, it was the big goofy guy from Strike. He was funny and a gentle giant. He saw his sister cuddled tightly against his chest. As Lem looks up to see Aceveda, he stands and drops her into the chair. Only she doesn’t stay, she hugs tightly to him as he walks towards the cage waving to Aceveda to follow him. Aceveda watches the way Lem walks, keeping the woman tucked protectively under his arm.
“Him. He just tried to snag her outside of a police department. Dude’s got balls.” He growls, slamming his hand into he cage fence in the man’s face and making him jump.
“He’s not one of the two originally. Who knows who these assholes have paid. Lem. Stick with her twenty-four seven. She doesn’t want Shane or anyone else there. I had to fight her to let you stay. Keep her safe until I find these assholes.” He growls, heading back up to his office with a purpose. Lem nods, swallowing hard as he turns to her. Walking her to her car, he inspects the car to find one tire slashed and her wipers zip tied together.
“We’ll take my bike. I’ll come up and fix your car tomorrow.” He assures, offering her to get on. As she gets on he hands her his helmet, his hands covering hers for a moment. Looking up into his eyes, she finds worry there.
“I’m fine, Lem.” She whispers, looking back to the seat to keep her eyes away from him.
“You almost weren’t though.” He hushes. She pulls away from the fingers reaching for her chin. With a huff, he climbs on and the bike roars to life heading down the street for her house. When they arrive, Tigre is sitting on the front porch a hand on her hip as she saw her best friend get off the back of Lem’s bike. Storming towards the two, Lem’s eyes meet hers and she stops mid step. “Tigre.” He nods curtly, ushering the shaken woman into the house.
“What is he doing here? Are you two banging?” She fires, her accent thick as she got madder. Standing on quaking legs, Fi grabs the woman by the hand and drags her to the kitchen.
“No, Tigre. He’s just here as a favor to David. Wine?” She asks, pulling the bottle down from the freezer. “And why are you here? You were supposed to come tomorrow.”
“I know, but I was worried. You skipped Chola night, chica. You okay?” She asks, taking the glass of wine from her friend and taking a sip.
“No, not really. David-“
“Don’t say anything about it.” Lem booms from the doorway. She shrieks, dropping her own glass and bottle, shattering on the floor. Tears fill her eyes, but Tigre stomps into his face.
“We may not have worked out, puto, but you don’t get to scare her like that.” She snarls, jabbing a perfectly manicured finger nail into his chest.
“I didn’t mean to scare her. But she can’t talk about the case yet, not when we can’t trust the people she’s telling.” He digs, heading past the small woman to help clean up. “I’m sorry, pretty girl. I didn’t mean to scare y—“
“Don’t say anything else. Okay? You’ve done enough.” She bites, sweeping the broken glass into a dustpan and finding a towel to clean up the wine. “And I trust her with my life.”
“I wouldn’t trust her with my lunch money.” He nips, storming into the living room.
“You two didn’t end things well, then. Hmm?” She gives a tired little laugh, sitting on the kitchen floor with her best friend sharing a glass of wine and a package of cookies from the counter.
“No, he didn’t like when I went back to Hector.”
“You and Hector okay though?” She asks, eyes dropping to the corner of her shirt above her hip. Hector had carved an ‘H’ into her skin.
“He goes to church now. He’s a better person.” She assures, resting a hand on her knee.
“You can go to church and still be a terrible person.” She offers, taking another drink from the glass. Lem stands at the kitchen’s entry with a blanket and a half-smile.
“Want this?” He asks, holding out the blanket. Tigre stands and grabs it from him, grimacing at him before returning to the kitchen and laying the blanket on the floor. The two girls sit on the floor of the kitchen for hours chattering about boys and life; how easy life used to be before they grew up. Lem listened carefully from the living room, the TV low for background noise.
“You like him, yeah?” Tigre asks, tapping the end of her rosy nose a couple times gently with a sweet smile. Fi nods, glancing at the door. “He’s a good guy, chica. Not for me, but you? Yeah. He really is a good one. He tried to fight Hector for me.” She smiles, nodding to the doorway.
“I mean, I get it. But he, ya know, he’s so bossy sometimes. And you banged him. Who knows if he has diseases now. Hector has them.” She laughs, handing her another chocolate chip cookie.
“No, he does not. And anyway, he’s a cop. He’s a goody two shoes. Your type to a tee.” She assures, patting the other woman’s shoulder.
“You wouldn’t be mad though? I mean, he was yours once.” Fi whispers loudly, the wine kicking in.
“No he wasn’t. He was there, I was there, it happened. I’d take it back if I could.” She whispers, patting Fiorella’s hand. Fi grabs the woman’s petite perfectly manicured hand in hers as they lay side by side on the kitchen floor on a blanket staring at the ceiling.
“You wouldn’t be mad though?” She repeats.
“No, chica. I’d be happy for you.” She laughs, staring at the ceiling.
“We should paint stars on the ceiling.” She stands and heads to the supply closet for paint and brushes.
“Una galaxia.” She encourages as her friend finds a basket of paint and lots of brushes. Pulling out an old plate and some chairs, the two mix colors and get to work. They get quiet as they get lost in the painting. Lem gets concerned and heads into the kitchen. Without a word, Fi swings her brush down just as he steps up to her and she smears blue and purple paint across his face. Tigre lets out a laugh, clapping. Fio laughs harder with Tigre’s encouragement and Lem’s unimpressed face.
“What the hell is going on in here?” He asks, finding paper towel to wipe the paint off his face.
“A lot, chico. You wanna join?” She asks, offering a brush. He was tempted to walk away.
“Nah, I’m good. Just making sure you two loca yahoos weren’t sneaking out the kitchen window or something.” He grins as he heads back out the kitchen, but not before being painted once more. A glob of bright pink paint landing on his cheek and hair.
“She shoots, she scores!” She cheers, doing a little victory dance on her chair.
“I don’t think so.” He growls, scooping her off her chair and slapping his hand into the paint, smearing a huge handprint on her face and arm. She sucks in a shaky breath, the warmth of hand sending chills down her spine. With a smug grin, he wanders out of the kitchen.
“Girl, you two might as well get married.” Tigre gushes, grabbing Fi’s shoulders and grinning at her.
“No, he put it in you, Ti, I can’t get right with that.” Fi groans, standing back onto the chair and finishing the background. Now the fun part, splattering the white paint. She and Tigre splattered white paint strategically, all over each other and the ceiling. They were cackling, making Lem laugh on the couch as he listened on. Tigre wasn’t badmouthing him so bad, but she couldn’t get passed the fact that he’d slept with her best friend. How could that be the deal breaker? Why did he even think this would be a good idea? He had seen the look in her eyes when he touched her face, the lust that clouded her eyes, the little gasp. It egged him on, he wanted to take her on the counter right where she stood, covered in paint. He went to the bathroom to rub it out, when a horrendous crash makes him jump into action. Gun drawn, heads to the kitchen. Heaving a huge sigh when he sees the girls lying in the plates of paint, chairs lying on their sides as if a gust of wind blew them over.
“You two, seriously.” He shakes his head, heading back to the couch.
“You see that? He likes you.” Tigre whispers, smudging a thumbprint of white paint on her face.
“No, he’s doing his job.” She assures, patting the older woman’s knee.
“Yeah, but he was in the bathroom. His jeans weren’t buttoned.” She giggles. Lem looks down and sure enough, they weren’t buttoned.
“You two aren’t exactly quiet. Next time don’t spook a man trying to pee.” Fi busts out laughing, holding her sides as she doubles over. Tigre laughs at her best friend, patting her back.
“It wasn’t that funny.” Fi finally stops laughing and heads into hallway to change. They cleaned up the kitchen, had changed clothes, and were lying back on the blanket looking at their handywork as the sun started to come up. “I’m gonna head home. Glad I got to see you babes. I miss you a lot. Let’s do this again.” She whispers, hugging Fi’s neck.
“I agree. But next time, I’m not inviting Lem.” She chuckles.
“You won’t have to, he’ll be a live-in husband by then.” Tigre laughs, gripping her friend’s hand as she steps out the door.
“He will not.” Lem sat on the couch grinning as he watched her strut back towards the kitchen.
“Hey,” he whispers, grabbing her leg and drawing her back to him. With a sweet smile, she perches on his knees. “You doin’ okay after yesterday?” He asks, a serious look on his face.
“Yeah, thanks for letting Tigre come fiesta. It helped a lot.” She smiles, without a second thought her hands sift through his soft spikes of golden hair.
“No problem. It’s just you and me today. What the hell are we gonna do?” He asks, chuckling as she snuggles closer into his lap. The lack of sleep was becoming prominent, a yawn on her lips as he hugs her against his warm chest.
“I think we should start here.” She murmurs against his neck, nose pressed gently under his jaw. Her breath sent tingles down his spine and excited him. He starts to grow hard under her, shifting to get comfortable. “Quit moving.” She breathes in his ear. Rolling his eyes and shutting them, he let out a sharp breath, biting hard on his bottom lip. Peeking through one eye, she smirks as she licks her lips. Wiggling her butt in attempt to get comfortable, Lem’s hands grip down on her hips and he growls low in her ear.
“One more, and I’m toast.” He loosens his grip and she wiggles again, this time a giggle escaping her pretty pink lips. In one slick move, he’s got her pinned against the couch lips inches from hers, eyes dark with lust. With the tiniest gasp, her eyes are blown wide as he grinds his hips against hers, exciting her. Nimble fingers pluck apart the buttons and he shimmies out of his button-up. Drawing the white tank top over his head to expose the gorgeous abdomen. One she’d only seen sneak peeks of that taunted her dreams. A knock on the door causes them to jump apart, Lem quickly putting on his button up, forgetting the tank top jammed into the couch cushions.
“Just a minute!” She calls, grabbing Lem and pressing a tantalizing kiss to his lips as she scampered off to the kitchen, Lem answering the door.
“Morning.” David greets Lem as he continues through the house without a second glance at him. “Coffee?” He asks, searching in a cupboard. Lem pipes up, pointing to the cupboard a little above his head. Aceveda looked at him a little funny, half-concerned.
“She’s changing I think.” He pitched a thumb over his shoulder down the hall where she’d scampered to when she heard her brother’s voice.
She needed a moment to calm down. Her fingers brushed up the valley between her breasts. She closed her eyes willing it to be his hands.
“What’s up?” Lem asks, trying to hurry Aceveda out the door. Not exactly taking the hint, Aceveda starts back towards the door with a confused look.
“I was just dropping in to see if she’s changed her mind about you.” He states, waving a hand to the blonde standing in front of him. Lem gives a pretty chuckle.
“Yeah, she’s alright with me I think. I’m gonna level with you, man. I let her have her friend Tigre over last night just to calm her nerves. No one was hurt and I followed protocol, but after her scare, I told her to invite one friend that she trusted with her life. She needed to relax, and trust me, I wasn’t the best person for that.” He chuckles awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. Aceveda gives a gentle smile.
“Thank you, Lemansky. I appreciate all your doing for her. I have Shane coming to cover while you sleep here. You can sleep in her room or the spare room if you’d like to. It’ll be over soon. Tell her I said hi.” With that, Aceveda shook Lem’s hand and disappeared. Haphazardly flicking the locks, he heads down the hall, giving a soft knock on her door before pushing it open. A sight stood before him. Her hands exploring her naked body, one hand rising over her breast, the other slowly and tantalizingly slipping down the little dip in her abdomen towards her warmth.
“Christ, baby.” He groans, clearing the room in two steps and grabbing her calves with his hands and dragging her to the end of the bed. With fumbling, excited fingers she pulls at the buttons of his shirt and then his jeans, dropping them to the floor the moment she could.
“Lem.” She murmurs against his peck, licking the muscle there before trailing her tongue down his abdomen, landing on his throbbing cock. With a deep breath, she grabs his shoulders and pulls him down to her, planting a hot, fervent kiss on his lips. Greedy hands find purchase on her ass, pulling her against him as he laid her down.
“Baby, you have five seconds to end this.” He growls in her ear, earning a sweet little gasp. With a giggle as a response, he aligned himself with her sweet hot entrance and slid in. His head went back in ecstasy, her jaw clenching. He starts with gentle thrusts, slow and rhythmic but she needs more. She stands, him getting a little confused until she turns him and shoves him back onto the bed. Climbing on him, she positions him at her entrance, slowly sinking down. His mouth gapes as her hips roll into his smooth and warm.
“I need you.” She whispers.
“Tell me what you want.” He ruffs.
“Que pasa si te quiero.” She murmurs, earning a deep growl as he thrusts up to meet her.
“What does that mean?” He asks, looping an arm around her neck and flipping her over, grinding his hips hard into hers, sending chills through her body as he started to pound into her.
“What if I want you?” She whispers, her wide green eyes meeting his, full of wonder and lust.
“You’ve got me, baby.” He assures, feeling the churn in his stomach. He starts an unsteady slamming rhythm into her, her legs quaking as she tightens her ankles around his back. Clawing at his back, her nails bite down as he thrusts finally.
“I’m on the pill.” She hushes, letting him slam once more into her, her walls pulsing around him as she hit her high, letting him lose himself in her for a moment. Heavy breathing fills the room as he crawls up next to her. Her stomach turned as her eyes drifted over his sweat slicked body lying next to her; he probably looked the same next to Tigre. She stands, yanking on her clothes aggressively and leaving the room, slamming the door. She had exactly what she’d tried not to. He was so attractive, though, she couldn’t help herself. Shrieking in anger, she hits the fridge door.
“I’m sorry, did I do something?” He asks, chewing on the inside of his cheek and brow low in concern.
“Yeah! You banged Tigre! And no matter how hard I try that’s alway s gonna hurt!” She shouts, grabbing the door knob. “And I can’t even get away from you!” She gives a frustrated groan as she heads to her bedroom. The only thing she could think of was him having the time of their lives. She slams the door, stalking back to the living room.
“I can’t help who I’ve slept with! Christ let it go! I said I’d take it back, so did she!”
“It doesn’t matter! It happened!” She cries, grabbing a jacket as she grabbed the door, slipping out.
“You can’t keep running when you want!” He shouts, grabbing his pistol from the table and following her, locking the door behind them. When he turns, she’s gone. Swallowing hard, he listens closely. Passing cars, all he heard were passing cars. A pop echoes behind him and he spins to find her sitting in her car, bare feet hanging out the door a little above the pavement. “Jesus Christ.” He heaves a sigh, listening to the sniffles coming from the car.
“Please leave.” She whispers, getting out of the car with tear-slicked cheeks and puffy eyes.
“I can’t do that.” He whispers, his nostrils flaring at the sadness in her voice.
“Just go! I don’t need you to be here! I’ll be fine. Please, just go.” She whimpers, collapsing on the pavement with a crackle of thunder.
“What’s the problem?” He asks, crouching to eye level.
“I like you! I love you, limon! I love you so much, I don’t know why, but I hate that you banged my best friend. It’s a special thing, between two people, and it happened between us and I just feel so stupid and used. When this is over, you’ll be on to the next puta willing to put out.” She cries as the rain starts to fall.
“What? Listen, I know this seems like my thing, but trust me, pretty girl. This isn’t my thing. I love you, you’re beautiful and sweet and quirky. I think you’re chill and funny. But I don’t regret what we did. I don’t ever want you to feel used. You should feel loved, you should feel beautiful. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I have no control when it comes to you.” A man sprints up behind Lem, clobbering him and knocking him out. They grab her and stuff her in a trunk as they take off, leaving the big hulking blonde on the pavement in the rain. She shrieks for him, but he lays there, unconscious.
As he comes to in the clubhouse, taking in his surroundings. He’s still dazed when he hears Shane talking about losing a girl. Lem was more confused for a second, but when it all came rushing back his heart broke all over again.
“No.” He whimpers, gathering himself to stand up. “Fio. Pretty girl!” He cries, grabbing his pistol off the table and heading out the door when Shane, Vic, and Ronnie step in the way of the doors. “Let me through.” He growls darkly.
“Lem, we’re tracking her. Do you have a license plate number? Car description?”
“No! They hit before I saw them! They’ve got her Vic!” He cries trying to shove passed when Aceveda comes in. Lem’s eyes hit the floor and he steps against the wall.
“Lemansky, are you alright?” He asks, but Lem only nods. “We got a call about a woman across the street from Fi’s house who saw the car and the men.” Lem’s eyes shift up in hope, and Aceveda smiles and nods.
“Why was she randomly looking out the window?” Shane frowns.
“She wasn’t. She was listening to the commotion in her driveway. A tall blonde man and a small Mexican woman were yelling about her loving him when a green two-tone sedan rolls up, two guys -who match the photos- jump out, clock the big guy and take the girl. She put up a hell of a fight. They’ll have a few bruises. And she bit one of them in the arm.” He informs, Lem’s heart slamming against his ribs as he reaches for the paper in Aceveda’s hand. He’d seen the car parked down the street every day this week. He kicked himself. He should’ve reported the vehicle as interest.
“Okay! Let me go get her!” He fires, trying to shove through.
“Lem, these guys know what you look like. You could spook them and they could—“
“You’re saying I can’t go?” He hushes, feeling like someone just hit him with a bus. Shane frowns and pats his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Lem. It’s too risky.” Lem drops to the seat and his head falls into his hands.
“Tell her I’m sorry.” Lem whispers, grabbing his stuff and heading towards the door.
“Lem! Where you going?” Vic shouts.
“I’m going back to her house. I wanna be there when she gets there.” He retorts heading out the door without another word.
Twelve hours pass, Lem pacing her house without stopping. His eyes would land on the bedroom door to the room where they’d had mind-blowing sex. The couch, her sitting in his lap, cuddled gently against him; safe. She found safety in his arms. He felt the best when she was there, wrapped in his arms protected from the world.
“Lem! It’s Vic!” Vic shouts, hitting the door. Carefully, he opens the door, gun drawn, the tears on his face totally forgotten.
“Did you—“ she flies passed him and barrels into Lem. He hugs her tightly, pressing kisses to her forehead. “Christ. You okay? Did they hurt you? Did they hurt you, pretty girl?” He barks, hands quaking as they close around her jaw.
“I’m okay.” She mutters, grabbing his face and pressing a much needed kiss to his lips. Hugging tightly to his neck, she pile drives him into the couch, wrapping herself around him as much as she could.
“Hey, hey.” He tries to peel her off, embarrassed that everyone was watching her.
“What’s wrong?” She whispers, following his eyes to the people standing in th foyer looking on in shock. Feeling the heat in her cheeks, she looks to him for confidence aand found none.
“Of course. You were worried about her because you’re sleeping with her.” Shane snorts, shaking his head.
“It was once! Jesus Shane!”
“Yeah? Just like that sting op with the hookers?” Shane asks, brows raised. Lem pales, eyes avoiding hers.
“You’ve slept with other women?” She asks.
“It was for work.” He raises his hands in defense.
“Work? Just like Tigre? Just like me? I should have known!” She shrieks, shoving him through the door towards his bike.
“Pretty girl, you just have to understand-“
“You like to sleep with women. I’m not missing anything. Go home, puto.” She sniffles, shoving everyone out the door and shutting and locking it.
“Maybe I should stay here in case-“
“Go home, Lem. It’s over. They’re in custody.” He drones, handing Lem the helmet.
“I fucked it all up, Vic.”
“I told you. This west side story bull wasn’t gonna-“ He pops Shane in the mouth, hopping on his bike and heading to the bridge. He spent the rest of the ngiht there, listening to the water rush through the dam.
“I’m sorry, okay? I know I fucked up! I know that! I just need a friend. I found my best friend. I found the woman I wanna spend my life with. She hates me though, thinks I’m some kind of puto. I just need a little help getting her to see that isn’t who I am.” He calls to no one.
She awoke with an awful headache, feeling the tears well in her eyes for a second. Flopping onto the couch with a blanket and a precooked egg sandwich, she turns on something to distract herself. Her phone slips through the cushions as it vibrates. Cursing, she digs through the cushions to find her phone, but her fingers tangle in a fabric that felt almost foreign. Pulling on it, as it came into her view, all she could do was cry more. It was Lem’s tank top. Pulling it to her nose, she inhales deeply, grinning to herself. He smelled so inviting, so warm and comfortable. Maybe she’d been too harsh on him. It wasn’t like she’d gone and accused him of cheating, because he hadn’t. He had a life before he met her, and she needed to understand that. With a huff, she sucks in one more deep breath before a knock made her jump. Wrapping her blanket tighter around herself, she swings open the door to find the owner of the tank top.
“Lem.” She whispers, taking a moment to soak him in. He hadn’t changed a bit, tall and super handsome.
“I’m really sorry. I was so goddamn worried about you that night that I came back here when they sent me home, if I had known how mad you’d be—“ she grabs him and pulls him into a kiss, deep and pure. Leading him through the door, she shuts, it, dropping the blanket to reveal a black lacy bra and a pair of pink lace panties.
“Lem, I’ve been having daydreams of this exact moment. Please, for fuck’s sake, make love to me and forget all that shit happened.” She growls, hopping into his arms as his lips devour her neck, leaving hickeys in their wake.
“Christ, pretty girl. I love you. I wanna protect you forever, if you’ll let me. I’m so sorr—“ her lips devour his, shutting him up. “Got it.” He murmurs against her lips as his teeth nip a hold of her panties, dragging them down her body. Flipping over, she sticks her ass way in the air for him with her head down.
“Baby, please.” She whimpers, grinding back against him.
“Goddamn,” he groans, unclipping the bra and shedding it as she turns quickly, licking a stripe from base to tip, taking his cock in her mouth, giving a couple wet licks before assuming the other position once more. As he slid into her, he took a handful of hair at the base of her neck, gripping and pulling back, a loud moan leaving her lips. Hard, heavy thrusts hitting her insides as a hand slips from her hip up over breasts and grips her throat, pulling her up to hold her body against him as he slammed into her relentlessly. Eliciting a couple deep groans, they hit their high, riding it out before flopping onto the couch together, completely sated.
“So Limon.”
“Yeah,” he breathes.
“What were you saying?”
“Te quiero siempre, Chiquita Bonita.” He murmurs against her lips, pressing a warm, sweet kiss there. With tears in her eyes, she hugs him tightly.
“Te quiero.” She responds, kissing his lips in return.
